Pages

12 February 2012

DIY: refinishing a neck form

Like most jewelers I had one of those black velvet neck forms to display my necklaces on. Aside from hating it for being so generic {and it's ability to attract dust} it was also falling apart. So, I decided to remove it's black shroud to see what I could do to jazz it up a bit.

Taking it apart is pretty easy. Just find a corner that is coming undone and tear the fabric away.

It's easy, I promise!

I thought I was going to save the fabric I removed to use as a template for the new fabric. It turns out that I wasn't able to reupholster it in the same manner.

I cut the base out at least three times before I decided to refer to a bookbinding book to see how I should cut and fold the corners.

I used liquid stitch to attach the material to the frame. It seems to have done the trick.

I didn't apply the glue everywhere. On the base I only used glue on the top and back, not the sides. For the circle to the left I applied glue to the back only. With the dowel I put some on the front to hold the fabric still then allowed it to dry. On the board I only applied the glue to the back. I cut many notches out of the fabric to make the curves smoother. It was quite the task.

I then pushed the fabric into the groove with a screwdriver {super fancy technique!}.

I used some more liquid stitch to apply the circle to the fabric I stretched over the wooden board.

I used some book cloth for the back. It is easy to cut and has a backing. It doesn't fray, it's super easy to work with and stuck like a charm with the help of sobo glue. The bottom of the base also has book cloth on it. The original finished piece had a waxy white paper and wasn't as durable.

Here it is modeling my daisy chain necklace on my bureau. I almost want to keep it for myself to display my personal jewelry collection. But I think it is best as part of my display, it will attract some attention.

Sorry to have missed a bunch of steps. It wasn't easy to do with two hands, never mind trying to hold a camera as well. All I can say is dive in, you will figure it out but it will take time.